One of the world’s finest restaurants, Noma, won its third Michelin star on Monday. In the culinary world, three Michelin stars spell top honours. Earlier this year, Noma raised funds for covid relief in India during the worst of the second wave.
“[Noma] has a strong connection to nature and its holistic approach sees unusual seasonal ingredients showcased in creative and complex dishes,” reads guide.michelin.com while stating that the Copenhagen-based Noma has been promoted to three Michelin stars.
The restaurant has held two Michelin stars for the last 12 years, and has consistently ranked in the top 10 of “The World’s 50 Best Restaurants” list, reports AFP.
Founder René Redzepi established Noma in 2003. He sources locally available ingredients to create dishes filled with flavour and fantasy. To mark the end of their summer menu this year, his team made edible candles with cardamom and saffron caramel shaped like a wax coating and a wick of slivered walnut. The pioneering chef made fermentation and foraging fashionable with a philosophy that also embraced environmental good and community service 18 years later. He travels around the world with Noma pop-ups and continues to create food with hyperlocal ingredients.
In May, an Indian chef from his team, Dhriti Arora, planned a four-course takeaway menu comprising butter chicken, dal makhani, pudina laccha paratha and gajar halwa. It was for a fundraiser project helmed by Noma and the proceeds were pledged to Delhi-based Hemkunt Foundation. It sold out, and raised about ₹1.5 lakh.
Some of India’s most promising chefs are alumni from Noma who adopted Redzepi’s love for fermentation, foraging and modern culinary flair. One of them is Vanshika Bhatia from Delhi’s recently opened Petite Pie Shop who firmly believes in zero waste cooking, and Prateek Sadhu from Masque who brought fermentation and foraging to the fine dining space in Mumbai.
When the Michelin award was announced, Noma wrote on Instagram: “We want to thank our wonderful guests for their support over the last 18 years and a huge shout of course to all our collaborators—farmers, winemakers, foragers—everyone that’s been a part of our giant puzzle, and most of all our team both past and present.”
